What camera to suit my current circumstances?

[Swoop1]

Now I have my deep sky/ wide field scope (RVO Horizon 72ED with flattener), I will soon be starting the hunt for the right camera for deep sky/ wide field.

My circumstances are-

a) Still have to earn a crust so am limited on most evenings to 1-2 hours from starting to set up to breaking down.

b) Permanent pier but no obsy so, leaving kit set up, not really an option.

c) Not had a lot of luck with guiding so probably limited to 1 min subs.

d) Don't have an EFW or the time to triple my exposures on RGB though I understand that using a luminance filter can overcome this?

I currently use an ASI290MC for planetary/ lunar and the occasional deep sky stuff and a Sony a6300 for wide field/ deep sky.

Would a dedicated CMOS/ CCD colour camera, a mono camera and luminance filter or an astro modded Canon or similar be the route to go for now?

If a dedicated CMOS/ CCD astro camera, what is a good option to suit my current circumstances?

I know I have probably opened a proper can of worms with this question but, info is needed to assist me with the next step.

Thanks,

Matt

[Albir phil]

I use a zwo 533 one shot colour camera.you say you have limited time to image ,so I think a mono camera would be difficult with your limited time as you have to expose each of the 3 filters . I would ( in your position go for a colour CMOS cooled camera.This is just my opinion,others may have different views. The more suggestions the better you can decide.good luck👍

[tomato]

At least with a OSC camera in 1-2 hours you will get something, unless you can be more patient and dedicate two or three nights to the same subject.

If your budget is limited and you are prepared to take the risk of purchasing direct from China, the Touptek or RisingCam offerings based on the IMX533 or 571 sensors are worth a look.

I would persevere with the guiding, it might not be as critical as it once was with long exposure CCD cameras, but it still makes a significant improvement to your end results.

[Elp]

Technically a mono camera is faster due to not having a Bayer matrix split, you're using all pixels, but filter workflow makes you spread the project over a number of nights. The added benefit is during most full moons and through light pollution you can continue to image in narrowband (O3 suffers a little if imaging right next to the moon).

But, if you expect to see some sort of a result straight away OSC is the way to go. Using a filter like an lextreme you can also punch through light pollution for emission nebulae.

You will however soon quickly learn AP is not a sprint, and to get good results you have to put in the time for longer total imaging time. I image at F2 most of the time and still put in around 10 hours per project as a minimum (mainly due to narrowband imaging one filter per session), mosaics usually spread out over months/seasons.

I would have thought your Sony is quite decent already, a smaller sensor will only add a crop factor compared to a larger sensor image. Astro cams however produce a finer noise pattern, you don't necessarily have to get a cooled one either as I use uncooled all the time, the only issue is you need to spend at least 10-20 minutes after taking your flats taking darks, a cooled camera you can take your flats and pack away (assuming you've already made a library of dark flats and darks previously).

Edited September 7, 2023 by Elp